Five observations from Iowa State availability: Cyclones head coach says ’71 points, generally’ is what wins Big 12 games

Iowa State and Kansas State are coming over solid wins this past weekend heading into their meeting Saturday. The Cyclones took down a Casey Pachall-less TCU squad by two touchdowns and the Wildcats trounced Kansas by a lot more. Iowa State hosts an unbeaten and highly ranked Kansas State squad this weekend. Here’s five observations from Cyclones head coach Paul Rhoads’ media availability this week:

1. Collin Klein’s patience makes him hard to stop

Collin Klein, who scored twice on the ground and via the pass in Kansas State’s 56-16 win over Kansas last week, is one of five FBS quarterbacks to throw for at least 800 yards this year and run for another 400. He isn’t the flashiest or fastest of runners, but his ability to wait for a hole to open before he takes off makes up for any physical flaw he has while carrying the ball.

“The patience that he executes every play with is uncanny,” Rhoads said of Klein. “You sit there and watch how long it takes a play to develop, whether it’s on film or TV, you’re thinking someone’s going to show up and make a tackle… Collin Klein is a very big man. I don’t know how many of you have stood next to him. He’s a smart football player. He’s a strong football player. The quarterback run game creates an extra gap in your defense so you’re outnumbered, so to speak. You’ve got a guy that’s patient when you’re outleveraged and outnumbered. He finds a way to have success. He presents a great challenge for our football team.”

2. Iowa State not letting TCU win get to its head

The last time the Cyclones pulled off a big upset, it needed overtime to beat a national title contender in Oklahoma State last season. This year, Iowa State beat TCU, 37-23, with Josh Lenz finding the end zone four times. But if Iowa State finds a way to keep the game against Kansas State close Saturday, beware, the Cyclones — who are not letting their win over the Horned Frogs get to their head — have won six straight games decided by less than five points or in overtime since the beginning of last season.

“That’s life in the Big 12 and our guys understand that,” Rhoads said. “I don’t think there was any problem bringing them back down from that win just like there wasn’t that problem with the last loss lingering — two things that make us very proud of where our program stands right now. We moved very quickly to preparation because if you don’t, the No. 5 ranked team in the country is going to run you out of your own stadium.”

Another part of the Big 12, Rhoads acknowledged, was, of course, the high-scoring nature of the conference. How many points exactly does it take to win a Big 12 game?

Only two teams, one of which has played more FCS teams than FBS squads this season (UTSA), have committed fewer turnovers than three times that Kansas State has coughed it up. The Wildcats lead the Big 12 with a plus-11 turnover margin, which is tied for the third-best in the nation, behind only Ohio and defending national champion Alabama. Iowa State has committed one more turnover (13) than the number of takeaways it’s recorded (12).

“Bill Snyder does an exceptional job of coaching his offensive football team in decision-making and the fundamentals of the game,” Rhoads said. “His quarterbacks understand how to protect the football — when to throw the football, when not to throw the football and so forth. Their ballcarriers protect the ball. They do the fundamentals — high and tight, wrap it with two arms when you should and really treat it like the valuable commodity that it is. They do not lose football games. That’s just one of the ways that they don’t.”

“We aspire to be a football team that doesn’t lose games,” Rhoads continued when asked if his team mirrored Snyder’s in any way. “The No. 1 secret to winning football games is not to lose them first. Bill Snyder and the Kansas State Wildcats do that week in and week out and have proved very successful in the process of the doing that. We want to be a football team and if that does that makes us sister type programs, so be it.”

4. Cyclones have higher expectations for themselves

While Iowa State’s lopsided win over TCU last weekend came as a bit of surprise, despite the fact that the Horned Frogs were without their record-setting starting quarterback, the Cyclones were not shocked. The reaction, or lack thereof, reflects a change in the culture of Iowa State football that Rhoads admires.

“I think the expectation level has been raised internally, which is what matters most,” Rhoads said. “We had great preparation. We knew that if we took that preparation down there and executed, that we had a chance to win the football game. That’s exactly what we did. There was not surprise in the result of the game. You sing the school’s fight song, you celebrate a week’s worth of hard work, and you move on.”

5. Iowa State’s pass rush much improved

Last year, the Cyclones made 17 sacks and registered 17 quarterback hurries. The Iowa State pass rush, statistically speaking at least, has taken a step forward this season as it has already made 11 sacks and recorded 14 quarterback hurries, although no player has more than two sacks this year.

“We’re doing things better, we’re doing them smarter, we’re doing them faster — just like we should be in the fourth year of our program,” Rhoads said. “You’re talking about a lot of guys that have been in the positions for two, three and even four years. They should be stronger and they should be even better football players.”